An oligopoly coming to a telecomms market near you

If you're Cdn and you haven't figured out what hte top news/business story of the day is yet... you must be living under a rock or in a cave or something. I couldn't believe all the e-mails I received via various news sources regarding the talks that are happening b/n Telus and BCE and the potential merger.

I'm sort of on the fence on how I feel about this. As one would argue, this makes the mktplace smaller and the less competitors there are, the worse it is.

However, the recent mergers or acquisitions of a Cdn company by an Amercian one has also bothered me. We're seeing more of a proliferation of this and it saddens me to see Cdn grown co's move south.

Another thing to consider is - doesn't it make sense for acompany w/ vast experience in the telecomms industry to acquire BCE rather than a pension board/grp?

& despite the number of Telus naysayers, I've gotta say that every experience I've had w/ Telus has left me WAY more satisfied than Bell. It took me three... count them, THREE weeks to get my phone connected when I was in Ontario. PLUS, Bell charged me for two weeks of DSL when I didn't even have a phone line and overcharged me on my long distance plan. *sigh* I may have had to wait more than an hour for the Telus dude to hook up my phone, but he came up to my unit and answered all my questions and I was given two months free of DSL when I should've only received one.

It was nice knowing ya

In the classic battle of Sony's Betamax vs. JVC VHS, the victor was JVC. Of course, in the end run, Sony has most likely been a more successful organization in terms of product development and profits.

Reminiscent of this battle is the new Sony Blu-Ray vs. Toshiba HD DVD. I was on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, mostly because it was hte format that the PS3 -- for obvious reasons -- would be supporting. While the PS3 may have been ridiculously expensive, it's still cheaper than purchasing a standalone HD DVD player. Well... in the "format war" it looks like HD DVD is on the losing end as Blockbuster just announced that they are increasing hte # of Blu-Ray titles from 250 to more than 1,000.

Death falls upon a institute in the Cdn music industry

OK... so I don't blog for months on end & this is the topic I decide to go w/ on my triumphant return!?

It always smarts a bit when I hear about a Cdn company being bought out by a U.S. company or investment firm. It's even sadder when a Cdn institution such as Sam the Record Man is forced to close its doors forever -- particularly since it has been a family owned business for more than 70 years.

I know that we all saw this coming years ago when smaller shops were shutting down all over the country. But the one mainstay was the flagship store in downtown Toronto. Who has seen the glowing records on the storefront via the TV? Because I'm such a nerd, that was actually one of the landmarks that I *needed* to see the first time I travelled to TO four years ago.

Thanks for the years in which you provided me a Cdn venue where I could purchase CDs, Sam.

Cdns aren't luddites, but we are economically conscious

So last year, I made a post about a G&M article on how it's impossible to compare cell phone rates b/n companies. Similar to my comments in my previous post, Simon Avery discusses how cell phone bills in Canada are *one-third* more than in the U.S.! Avery notes that this may be the one reason that impacts the cell adoption rate in Canada. For pete's sake... our adoption rate - 56 per cent - is on par w/ *Tunisia* and slightly behind Turkey!?

Why is there even an issue

Looking over some of the media cvg on the upcoming 2010 Olympic Games and saw that Senators are fretting over French status at Olympics.

I don't really understand why there is even an issue... First off, Canada's a bilingual country. It might not seem like it in Vancouver, but French and English have always been the two official languages and it will always be. Secondly... aren't the two official languages of the big O's English & French anyway? I can't remember the last time when I didn't hear languages being represented at the Games - English, French & the native tongue. Why is there even any concern?

The only concern there should be is whether we can pull of these Games & not make an embarassment out of ourselves. I'll havta admit, I was totally on the bandwagon about getting the Olympics... but now I'm not so sure it's a good idea.

Let's talk some pigskin

I'm sure for those of you out there who know me well, are thinking, WTF!? I'm not exactly what you would call a huge football fan, but here I am drafting up a post that focuses ONLY on football.

First off - the Grey Cup is looking to sell the naming rights of the "illustrious" game/award/...cup. Are there any other major sports that have done this? Apart from tennis and golf that is. I just think that hte "Tim Horton's" Grey Cup sounds wrong.

On another note, Mo over at the Chicago Tribune wrote a great post about one of my fave shows, Friday Night Lights. While I haven't seen the latest ep, I can't agree w/ her anymore. This is a phenomenal show that ppl SHOULD be watching. Hell, I look fwd to the show each week & I don't even like watching football. The only thing I don't agree w/... Matt & Julie being TV's greatest couple... Veronica & Logan definitely take the cake on that way... hands down... even when they're not together.

Canada grped w/ Belize, Venezuela, China, Turkey, Indonesia, Ukraine & Russia!?

That's right! The U.S. has blacklisted us due to our relaxed copyright laws.

From the sounds of it, we are by far, one of the worst countries when it comes to bootlegging movies in theatres and there are no laws against banning camcorders from them, etc. While the article doesn't go into it, a lot of the TV shows that are being circulated via bittorrent are also from Cdns - as you can tell by seeing the Global or CTV HD logos on the bottom right-hand side of the screen. No... I don't dl TV shows that I miss or air at the same time as some of my other fave shows... that would be unethicial! ;)

I may be remissed for not giving a rats ass, but let me put this into perspective... I've gone to more movies in the past two years than I had in the previous 10 (other than that year when the local second-run theatre had $1 Tuesday viewings) and while I may dl movies, I've also purchased about 75 per cent of them on DVD. So really, am I not contributing to the system, which they say is losing money? I don't have time to do the research, but I vaguely remember reading that mucho moola was being made fromt he sales of DVDs.

*shudder*

Over the weekend, I read a couple of articles in the local papers and the Vancouver Sun about a teacher at Terry Fox Secondary who's been accused of, to put it simply, being a perv. None of these publications named the teacher and since I'm an alumnus of the school, I was curious as to who it was and whether they ever taught me. Since it's been nearly 10 years since I've graduated from there, I figured I most likely wouldn't know the teacher due to staff turnover, etc.

Well, the teacher's face was plastered on the front page of the Province yesterday... Gordon Belec, an English 11 teacher, is facing a charge of sexual exploitation.

I'm getting the serious heebie jeebies here. Why? Because I actually had him as a teacher... a student teacher back in junior high. He was my Socials 10 teacher & I thought he was AWESOME. Perhaps a lil too awesome?

W/ this said... this charge could mean absolutely nothing. Perhaps a student misinterpretted his words or actions as inappropriate, but perhaps he really is a perv...

This city is going down the tube...

A couple of weeks ago, the roof of B.C. Place collapsed & now there's talk that there's a good chance that the venue will not be around for long following the 2010 Olympics. A week after that, it was reported that it would be too costly to fix the roof of the Plaza of Nations & that there's a good chance that it too would be redeveloped in the near future.

While I don't frequent either venues often, I think it would be a great loss to Vancouver if they were to be demolished. When I think of the Vancouver skyline, three things come to mind, the Woodward's building (which too has now been demolished except for part of the facade), B.C. Place & Science World. In the case of the Plaza of Nations - I have too many memories there from Expo '86. Granted, I may only have been 6 years old, but I remember going there and experiencing the revolving theatre. I also remember how I got scared of the last roll of the theatre after a child got crushed when it was revolving - fault of the child for climbing up on the seat.

Anyway... the Vancouver Sun editorial board wrote about the impending demise of the Celebration of Lights. In most cases, their editorial board bugs me more than anything, but for once, I'm in total agreement. It's sad to know that such a longstanding event may not be around for much longer due to lack of sponsorships. It's particulary tough now w/ the Olympics just around the corner and everyone thinking that's where they're going to get a bang-for-their-buck.

While I don't attend the fireworks every year, again, I have fond childhood memories going w/ my family. I would hate to see this tradition come to an end...

Global warming is having it's affect

Just heard on CKNW that B.C. Hydro has reported that 200,000 customers are experiencing power outages. Yikes!

If I didn't have a back-up alarm called "Dad" - & yes, I know it's quite sad that I still live at home w/ the parental units - I would NOT have made it into work on time today. What a crazy morning... getting abruptly waken up by my father, getting dressed in the dark, waiting for the bus in the dark, my bus almost getting into a head on collison w/ on-coming traffic as it attempted to maneuver the fallen tree branches on the road, and the bumpiest train ride I've ever experienced.

This weather is absolutely crazy, but of course, it doens't even look like downtown Vancouver has been affected at all. Hell, it's sunny right now!

update: Oh gawd help me... look at what I just got from CKNW...

B.C. Hydro says 240 thousand Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island customers without power.

Lower Mainland customers may be without power until Monday.

A nation w/in a nation

I know I really need to do a better job at blogging - one day perhaps. If it's any condolence, I still haven't gotten my travel blog up. It's been nearly two months since I left on my trip & I'm pretty sure that I only remember about 25 per cent of my trip now. ;)

As most ppl know by now, Stephen Harper announced/suggested in Parliament yesterday that Québec should be "annointed" as a . Not totally sure how I feel about that.

I'm a staunch supporter of keeping Québec in Canada. Some say - why keep them if they want to leave, let them leave. It could be the experience I had w/ Encounters w/ Canada in 1996 where I had the opportunity to meet 116 other teens from all over Canada, including Québec. While the program didn't promote "nationalism," it definitely encouraged it and it definitely had an effect on me. & now that I think about it, I can't believe htat it's been 10 yrs since that trip...

W/ this said, I've been out of history class for a number of yrs now & can't remember exactly the definition of what it means to be a "nation." It's an interesting concept - having Québec as a definitive nation. Not sure what that will mean overall. Will it be similar to the relationship Canada has w/ the First Nations? Only time will tell...

Remind me never to fly in & out of Germany...

Just listening to News1130 - it's unfortunately part of my job description - and heard that Germany has plans to change its constitution so they can shoot down hijacked planes. While I do agree w/ the masses that we can't let the terrorist win, I still get the heeby jeebies thinking about this (yes, I said heeby jeebies!). I understand the rationale of it - sacrifice some to save the "greater good" or population, but it's still disturbing for me to think that someone would be willing to do so. :\

Do you have a Dell laptop?

You may want to make sure that the battery doesn't explode on you... seriously.

Dell just launched a battery recall following some incidents. I thought they were just airing on the side of caution, but holy shiznit, the batteries really are exploding. Check out the pics on Kris Abel's, Canada AM tech reporter, blog.